Photos taken during Carnival in San Salvador de Jujuy (northern Argentina) in 2010.­

Carnival in the Andes mountains is a mix of precolombian pagan rituals and traditional Christian Carnival.­

During Carnival festivities in the Andes mountains (e.­g.­ in northern Argentina), people drink and dance to the music of marching bands in the streets, mostly in the evening and at night.­

Local traditions include throwing white talk powder, spray foam, throw serpentines and confetti's to the face of others, covering the face of friends with paint (red, blue or green water-paint), having basil leafs on their ears (basil is an edible aromatic plant).­

The destination of Carnival parades is often an Apacheta, which is a stone mount that is a shrine to Pachamama (Mother Earth).­ Then people dance around the Apacheta and cover it with offerings like coca leaves and alcool.­ Sometimes an indigenous Shaman performs an offering ceremony at the Apacheta.­

During Carnival, many young men are wearing very colorful Devil costumes covered with mirrors, with a mask hiding their face.­ Women dancing with a devil will often hold their tail.­ At the end of Carnival, the are ceremonies to bury the Devils until the next Carnival, when they are unburied again.­ Those Carnival Devils (Diablos Carnavaleros) are part of an old local pagan ritual.­